Foreclosures Rising In Most Major Metropolitan Areas

Reuters is reporting that foreclosures are climbing in 75% of the U.S. metro areas. It seems no community is immune to the continuing roll of the foreclosure tide.

Foreclosures rose in 3 of every four large U.S. metro areas in this year’s first half, likely ruling out sustained home price gains until 2013. Yep…a downward trending real estate market for at least the next three years.

Did you hear that? That noise you heard was the thump of thousands of hopeful Realtors collectively hitting the floor realizing there is no end in sight and the return to the glory days of 5 years ago will soon be a distant memory.

According to the Reuters article, urising unemployment was the main culprit driving foreclosure actions on more than 1.6 million properties.

“We’re not going to see meaningful, sustainable home price appreciation while we’re seeing 75 percent of the markets have increases in foreclosures,” RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga said in an interview.

Foreclosure actions — which include notice of default, scheduled auction and repossession — in the first half rose in 154 of the 206 metro areas with populations 200,000 or more.

“We’re not going to see real price appreciation probably until 2013,” said Sharga. “We don’t see a double dip in housing but we think it’s going to be a long painful recovery for the next three years.”

Painful??? Not for the opportunity seekers. While I surely empathize with the pain being felt by many, you have to understand that is in times like these that fortunes are made.

Repeatedly for 2 years now I have told you that John D. Rockefeller once said that fortunes are made and the “time to buy is when blood is running through the streets”, but for many the words are falling upon deaf ears. Deaf to the sound of the bell ringing loudly signaling tremendous opportunity.

There is no doubt to this fact. Someone WILL prosper from this foreclosure crisis. Actually many will prosper. But the only question that matters is will you?

Cities with the 20 highest foreclosure rates were all in Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona.

As long as unemployment hovers near 10 percent and unrelenting foreclosures hang over the market, prices cannot stage a lasting comeback. Home prices are about 29 percent lower, on average, than peaks set four years ago.

“If unemployment remains persistently high and foreclosure prevention efforts only delay the inevitable, then we could continue to see increased foreclosure activity and a corresponding weakness in home prices in many metro areas,” RealtyTrac chief executive James J. Saccacio said in a statement.

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